Puddy still heavy, we go hunting anyway.

Pud was still at 821 grams today, and what has been fat, but her attitude was starved, so I decided to go anyway. It is no wonder that she is feeling neglected as her last hunting day was on the 15th. Then she had only eaten Bunny, which is the celery of the rabbit kingdom.

When I let her out of the box, she went to a fence post and even though I called her quite close up, she declined to come. We walked off and left her sitting there. As I got further away she showed more interest, but still declined the offer of a tidbit. Finally she couldn't stand to be left behind and flew to the perch with no coaching on my part. Soon a Bunny flushed and she gave chase. Not very effective, but a chase non the less. She stayed with us, only flying when either a Jack or a Bunny flushed. She is still flying like a baby, but she is improving, and made several impressive flights at the elusive rabbits. She also tried for Quail a couple of times, but she still doesn't have the flight requirements mastered as of yet.

The grass is extremely high, and rabbits are not as plentiful in Arock this year, but she tried every chance she got and stayed right with me every step of the way. As I was beginning to give up hope that I would get a chance at a Jack, we finally found one that apparently had not heard about my prowess with a pistol.

 She was on the Tee perch when I shot, and this time, she only flinched. She saw the Rabbit and wasted no time slamming into him.

 The rabbit screamed when she grabbed it and this time, she didn't get scared, just excited. It did not take her long to kill the Rabbit.

 The buzzards didn't take long until they were circling over head.

 I secured her, and skinned some of the rabbit. I sliced open the chest, hoping that she would get into the chest cavity.

 We took the opportunity to catch our breath.

 Unfortunately she seems drawn to the guts. I guess she likes spaghetti.

 Then as we were walking out, we picked up some curious locals. The dark one with the blase amused himself by blowing into the end of the perch. The others were intrigued by the hollow sound.

 If Karen started to lag, the horses would push her with their noses. Puddy was not amused and wanted me to go faster.

 As we were driving out, a large dark falcon flew overhead. It was the size and with the naked eye the color of a Raven, but the wing beat was definitely different. I was sure that it was a Peregrine when it took a stoop and a bunch of Black Birds along the road side. I was having a hard time keeping up with her until she found the kettle of Vultures, and stopped to harass a few of them.

There was also a Golden Eagle flying with the Vultures in the thermal. I was wishing for my large camera, but you make do with what you have.

I guess that it is time that I set the record straight. I earlier said that I had not seen a Harris as dumb as this one. I saw the dumb one the other day when I went into the bathroom. As Pogo said, "we have met the enemy and he is us." Puddy is showing that she just might make something out of herself. She took three days to come down from a meal of Bunny, I can't wait to see how long it takes her to come to weight with a meal of Jack in her crop. Oh well, I guess that means that I can go fishing I guess.